Book Questionnaire and Other Stuff

I’m neck deep in revisions for KISS ME, KILL ME — due in four days — so my creative energies are focused solely on rewriting the climax scenes. (And no, I’m not talking about sex!)

Last time I was here, I posted a story my daughter wrote for a school project on ENDER’S GAME. It was amazing. Well, I just read her latest school writing project–a 1200 word short story. She wrote a ghost story that is amazing. But what is really hilarious, is that it’s not due for two weeks. What WAS due was a basic outline–character, conflict, theme, etc. She told me she couldn’t fill out her teacher’s “stupid form” (her words, not mine!) until she wrote the story. My, but how that sounds very familiar! So she wrote the story, then filled out the form, and is one happy camper because while all the other students still need to write a story, she’s done.

The reason I did a quick blog then was that I spent that Thursday traveling to the Moonlight and Magnolia’s Conference that the Georgia Romance Writers put on. Wow. I had so much fun, learned a lot, and even wrote a speech that I almost stuck to. (Rocki would be so proud of me!) I posted the speech Sunday over at Murderati because, well, I was on deadline last Sunday, too. :/

Speaking of Rocki (isn’t her new website absolutely AMAZING?!?), I read everyone’s comments. Excerpts, book lists, links to buy. No clutter, easy to navigate. Check. I’m revamping my landing page (well, my more talented web-guy is revamping it.) I am 50/50 about doing a book trailer. I loved them when I started because in 2005 not everyone had book trailers. But now? I’m not sure. What do you think?

I have a half-written blog that will have to wait for next time. It’s called, “Is the Road to Hell Really Paved with Adverbs?” It started as a rant against killing all adverbs. I like adverbs. Adverbs modify verbs. They are a perfectly acceptable–and needed–part of speech. Adverbs are not evil; in fact, I would call them pretty dang good. But like anything good, they’re best used in moderation. That’s your public service announcement for the day. 🙂

I’ve been following the Chilean miner story from the beginning primarily because my husband was following it, but also because of the dire situation those trapped miners were in. Let’s here it for the United States and everyone who worked hard, as a team, to bring those men to the surface. You are all heroes, the 33 miners and the people who helped save them. On Facebook, Toni posted a link to this amazing article. I agree with the columnist’s comment: “it is so refreshing to see us at our best again.”

And now, that’s the conclusion of my blog! Because it’s back to work. I searched for some fun questions on the Internet to keep you all chatty so that I can finally have more comments than Lori, but I settled on a good book standard. Comment and I’ll randomly pick someone to win a copy of any book in my backlist 🙂

What are you reading right now?An ARC of LOVE YOU MORE by Lisa Gardner (neener, neener! It doesn’t come out until March!)

Do you know what you’ll read next?Um, no. It’s a toss up between PROMISES IN DEATH by JD Robb (I’m several books behind in the series) and Joe Hill’s HORNS. But I could change my mind 🙂

What’s the last book you stayed up half the night to read because it was so good?IN HARM’S WAY by Ridley Pearson

82 comments on “Book Questionnaire and Other Stuff”

sounds like your daughter got some amazing writer genes. since i love stories so much, i sometimes wish i could write (i do write technical guidance and policy documents for work, but they’re sooooo boring!!!).

right now I’m reading Hidden Fire by Jo Davis. i stayed up until 1 am last night, it’s a fast easy read and I’m almost done. I will read the next in the series because I like to read connected books back-to-back if i can.

Kris, you’re not the only reader who likes connected books! 🙂 I do and I don’t. I like writing them (of course!) but I also like the anticipation of the next book. Sometimes, an author who only has one or two books a year can build reader anticipation. I LIKE having to wait sometimes, even though i don’t WANT to. Lucy Kincaid’s series will be one every six months, with the exception of the first two which are Jan and Mar. But it’s a series, not connected stories (though I may write a few with Lucy as the secondary character and focus on another character.)

I am proud of you for giving a fantastic speech, Allison! I knew you would. And I can so relate to “knee deep in revisions” because I just finished the toughest revisions of my life. Sympathy hugs.

Last night, I finished MOCKINGJAY – devoured the whole HUNGER GAMES trilogy as fast as I could. I picked the first book up because I was curious about the buzz. I don’t typically do dystopian or violent-sounding books. But I was sucked into that rare and wonderful reading vortex when just about everything else becomes secondary to finishing the book. Or, in this case, the books. I could pick apart certain elements of the stories, but, overall, I absolutely loved all three books in that trilogy.

Thank you so much for the props on my new web site! I love it, too. xo

My daughter loved the trilogy, though she is definitely a dystopian/dark fantasy fan. Sarah Desson is one of the few YA romance authors she really likes. She also said she’d read anything Laurie Halse Anderson or Libba Bray writes, no matter what the genre or protagonist. Wow, to have such devotion in an author! I can only hope to have such dedicated fans.

I’d love to read your blog about adverbs. I’ve seen too many writers dismiss them altogether when they really do play an important part in writing. Although, I do agree they should be used sparingly. ;o)

Right now I’m reading My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent. Next, I’m leaning toward something by Vince Flynn or maybe I’ll read one of the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher. I need to step out of reading paranormal for a couple books.

The last book I stayed up to read was one of yours – I don’t remember which one, but your books usually keep me up reading.

I’m starting Cleo Coyle’s Roast Mortem today. I’m not sure what I’ll read next, but if I had an ARC of Lisa Gardner’s next novel (green with jealousy here) there would be no contest! The last book I stayed up half the night reading was Carolyn Crane’s Double Cross. Fun quiz. Thanks.

I know. I’m gloating about the Lisa Gardner book. I read the first two chapters and had to put it down to finish revisions, and it is on my mind. I can not WAIT until Monday. I’ll probably stay in bed all day reading (since I’ll be up late, late, late to finish revisions!)

It think I mentioned on your last post I have a 14 year old daughter who is also in honors English. She just had to write a few pages that extended one of Edger Allen Poe’s stories . Was so fun to read.

Reading right now?
audio-Midnights Daughter by Karen Chance
paperbook-Demon From the Dark by Kresley Cole
kindle-The Red Church by Scott Nicholson

Next reads? I have 131 books on my TBR list, but I think Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

Reading? Who has time to read? I have a MS to finish revamping and synopses to write of books barely conceived, much less written! Your DD and I are of the same mind!!!!

Okay…Looking at my Kindle, I’m currently reading A DARK AND STORMY KNIGHT (anthology edited by P.N. Elrod). Next up is CARNAL SIN, by an author we all know and love. I’ve wanted to read this since I got it but I wanted nothing to interfere (like deadlines) so I’ll start it as soon as the current “puppy” is shipped out the door. The last book I stayed up all night to read was an ARC of Leslie (Kelly) Parrish’s COLD SIGHT. I slept with the lights on!

Yeah, deadlines . . . when I unwind, it’s with television, because I’m so immersed in my own book, it’s hard to read someone else’s. It’s why I binge read–I won’t read anything for a month, then read four books in a row in 2 or 3 days. I used to read 4 books a week . . . I hope you enjoy CARNAL SIN! 🙂

*LOVE* the cover….*gigglesnort* I’ve been itching to dive into it! Of course that “Autographed Copy” sticker right in the middle of the dude’s chest sort of blocks the view… *DUCKS* I want to have time and energy to stay up all night and read it!

I can’t remember the last book I stayed up really late to finish, I frequently get to bed later than I planned by an hour or so to read a “little bit more”.

The last one was probably Wicked Appetites by Janet Evanovich (the title is much more intriguing than the story) because it was a fun, easy read, but mostly because my sister was waiting for me to pass it on.

I usually stay up to read if I have 100 pages or less and it’s midnight. I remember staying up until 4 am to read VANISH by Tess Gerritsen. I made the mistake of starting it at 10 at night. I could NOT put it down. I had to find out what happened, and read it all in one-sitting.

I read Bayou Moon and really enjoyed it. (I didn’t like one tiny tiny thing about the last conflict right before the ending, and I just mentally deleted that so it doesn’t exist in *my* version of that book, ha.) But otherwise, very well done.

I like to switch back and forth too. I’ll usually go for a romance/romantic suspense then a mystery/thriller or three. I think I read probably one lighter book for every five darker books. I sometimes just need to laugh or read something light and fun and quick. Kristan Higgins is my go-to gal for great contemporary romance that’s fun. Carly Phillips is another. Jenny Crusie. I still rank WELCOME TO TEMPTATION as one of my all-time fave books.

Allison and Toni â€“ Look you two, I am now putting you on my excuse list when I explain to my wife why I had to buy that last book. Really, you were already on the list by association since I’ve been using Rati recommendations as an excuse for awhile.

After posting about what I am going to read next, I had a double think and decided I was starting to slide down the depression slope (seriously) and needed something funny. I have Dana Andrews’ THE PENGUIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and WHEN A MAN LOVES A WEAPON on my TBR, but no, now you recommend this romantic comedy, a genre Iâ€™ve never read. So I check it out on Amazon and read all these 5 star reviews and great things about this book, well except the lady that gave it one star and called it filth, and ended up downloading it to my Kindle. You should be ashamed of yourselves, you know addicts have no self control, dangle a good fix in front of them and they bite every time. 😉

My mom loves Robert Parker. When he died, she looked online for his complete booklist and is filling in her holes.

Lisa Gardner is amazing. The first book I read of hers was THE THIRD VICTIM, which was I believe her third single title for Bantam. I then went back and read her backlist (THE PERFECT HUSBAND was her first book–amazing romantic suspense.)

While I didn’t LOVE Heart Shaped Box, I enjoyed HORNS very much. That being said, I also love JD Robb. I’d say you can’t lose either way.

The last book that kept me up all night was actually Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. It’s brilliant on so many levels. And immediately after reading it, I went on to her website and downloaded the “gretchen” swag. I’m going to read it again soon – along with the other two in the series.

Gretchen Lowell is the scariest serial killer I have even encountered in fiction, including Hannibal Lecter. I read dark, I like Gerritsen, Slaughter, Hayder etc., but Cain is almost too dark for me. IMHO her work borders a torture porn. What bothers me the most is the really sick relationship between Gretchen and Archie Sheridan. What he does to his family is unconscionable. The fact the relationship gets more twisted in later books means I can’t read anymore Cain.

I do think writing is brilliant and hats off to the twist at the end of Heartsick.

Karin Slaughter is about as violent as I can take. I can’t handle violence against children. I can read about it as backstory or in general, i.e. you know that a child has been killed, but you don’t “witness” the crime or “know” the child. Same thing with animals. It doesn’t bother me in fiction to have a serial killer who realistically tortures animals, I just don’t want it on the page. But I still want to read Cain–mostly because I try to read at least one book by every popular crime fiction/suspense author.

The best unsung hero is Dr. Keith Ablow. He only wrote 6 books before turning to non-fiction, but his books were amazing and truly inspired me to really try to understand my villains more than a superficial “he’s evil” kind of casting.

I’d like to know what you think of HEARTSICK. Oh and even if you like Nevada Barr (been reading her since TRACK OF THE CAT) don’t read BURN, as it deals with pedophilia and children forced into a life of prostitution at special house called The Nursery. I had to skip pages.

Thank you Terri!!! I’m so glad. Whew. I have 61 HOURS and I have WORTH DYING FOR on pre-order. My mom read 61 HOURS first, and said there’s a cliffhanger, so I put it to the bottom of my pile and hope when these revisions are done, and my novella is gone, that I can read them back to back. I can sit down and devour a Jack Reacher story in one long, fast-paced sitting 🙂

What?? A cliffhanger?? grr…oh well, it’s not a hardship to go out and buy the other book (which is out Tuesday!!). Speaking of cliffhangers…how long to I have to wait for book 3 of the 7 Deadly Sins??? 😉

I haven’t read a lot of historical romance, I think because there are so many books I haven’t read I couldn’t glom onto a completely new genre. I’ve read a few, but they’ve mostly been westerns. And I’m picky about my westerns because I don’t consider Kansas the west. I mean West of the Rockies. I love gold rush era California/Nevada books. I think because the female characters in westerns can be more independent than in English or Scottish times.

And I will be reading Fear no evil next also by the aforementioned extremely tallented writer Allison Brennan.

I am also planning to read a John Grisham book finally, but there might be a change in the plans when your Lucy Kinkaid book comes out.

I am not an all-nighter guy, but I can read almost all day if I have time and the book is interesting. I guess that last one was Speak no evil for that (I read it in two days). But I also spent a lot of time on Alexandre Dumas books and Stephen King.

FEAR NO EVIL is one of my favorites because I introduced Lucy Kincaid. I adore Lucy. She’s one of my favorite characters and having her grow in a series from a young wannabe FBI agent into whatever she’s going to be (because I don’t know yet!) is so much fun. Thanks for the shout out! I’m glad you’re enjoying the books.

And BTW Allison, I like a lot in your books that they connect to each other, even if it is the smallest possible half sentence that does it. I especially enjoyed in your Prison Break series that sometimes the connection was almost just one sentence! Great job!
Also when I started reading See no evil, it was great to re-visit some places I got to know in Speak no evil.

I’m reading “Hunted by the Others” by Jess Haines. I’m really enjoying it. Then I’ll hop back to Nocturnal – an anthology w/ Jacki Frank, Kate Douglas, Jess & Claire Williams. I put it on hold to read Jess’ first story before going on to the next installment as well as the last author in the anthology.

Next on my list is your “Carnal Sin”…yeah, I’m a little behind in my reading!

What are you reading right now?
We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni. While I believe in ghosts and that people can talk to the dead. I have serious doubts about many who claim to be spiritualists, this story adds an interesting twist to how it all got started.

Do you know what youâ€™ll read next?
No clue. I can guess but 9.9 chances out of 10 whatever I say will not be what I decide to read. Im a total mood reader.

Whatâ€™s the last book you stayed up half the night to read because it was so good?
When Blood Calls by JK Beck.

Love, love, love JT!!! I’m two books behind. Karen Rose is always a good all-nighter, too. I haven’t read JR Ward because I prefer more realistic paranormal (I know, sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true! Give me a good ghost story that I think can really happen, and I’m hooked.)

Allison â€“ I love Ridley Pearson, Iâ€™ve been reading him since THE SEIZING OF YANKEE GREEN MALL. Itâ€™s nice he moved to Idaho and is writing about an area I am familiar with, though Lou Boldt is my favorite character.

Currently reading MOON CALLED a Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs, listening to Connellyâ€™s REVERSAL.

Up next? Not sure, I have 84 books on my TBR list. Probably A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART by Tim Hallinan or ORIGINAL SIN – if it gets here before I need to start another one (an addict can’t go long without a fix), but it’ll be at the top.

Last book I stayed up to read was Tess Gerritsenâ€™s GRAVITY, which I finally read a couple of weeks ago. Before that it was THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin.

I love Ridley, too, and Lou Boldt is an amazing character. My first Ridley Pearson book was THE FIRST VICTIM and it hooked me for life. I read backlist and all the Boldt books. I haven’t read any of the Walt/Idaho books until IN HARM’S WAY (Lou Boldt is in it!!!) and now I’m going to read the first three Sun Valley books. I really love Walt, too. He’s totally different than Boldt in some ways, but similar in other ways. GREAT book, definitely worth reading.

I just finished A Darker Place by Jack Higgins.
I’m reading Lover Mine by JR Ward and My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne.
Next ????
The last book that kept me up all night reading it was The Firm by John Grisham.

Nothing–just finished a bunch of Highlander books–2 of Monica Mccarty’s (catching up on hers–she just does not write fast enough, dammit) and new-to-me Paula Quinn (also another one who needs to write faster). I love being able to go read something entirely outside of my own genres–it’s the only way I can take a mental break from what I’m working on.

Do you know what youâ€™ll read next?

I’m not sure. I want to read Lisa Unger’s Fragile because I’ve heard such good things about it, and I have about two dozen other books sitting here as well–lots of variety in genres, but I’m closing in on the last part of my book, I finally figured out a critical part of it and I may not pick up the reading again until I’m done.

Whatâ€™s the last book you stayed up half the night to read because it was so good?

I always read through the night. I really really loathe stopping in the middle of a book because I know I won’t rest–I’ll just dream-write the damned thing, so I might as well enjoy it awake. The only time I stop is when I know I absolutely cannot sleep in the next morning, but I’ve been lucky to be able to arrange my schedule to where I usually can.

That said, I give high praise to one of the very latest I read (besides those mentioned above) which is Tana French’s latest, Faithful Place.

Good luck with the revisions. I’m currently reading Gerri Russell’s “To Tempt a Knight.” Up next is probably Kate Brady’s “Last to Die.” The last book I stayed up half the night to read because it was so good was Brenda Novak’s “White Heat.”

LOL Scorpio, that’s a fantastic endorsement of Lorelei! I read her latest, CORRALLED, and I agree–you just can’t put her books down. I’ve also read her first MERCY book–I loved it. Her female characters are so incredible and original and flawed and brave and amazing.

Diane, I have WHEN BLOOD CALLS on my desk. Sigh. I have no time. Someone at my kid’s school asked me if I still read now that I write, and I said yes–but where I used to read 3-4 books A WEEK I’m lucky to read 3-4 books A MONTH now. And I love reading.

Right now I am reading Bite me if you can by Lynsay Sands. I was missing two books out of her series, #5 and #6, but I have all the others. For some reason I always pick out a book and bring it home to find out it’s part of a series and then am scrambling to back track and find all the other books. It’s those times I wish we lived in a bigger town and had an actual book store I could go to instead of having to track everything down online. I got the last two I needed so Yay for me and now when I get books I always open them in the store and flip through the pages to see if it’s a series and where it is in the series. My next book I’m planning to pick up is It had to be you by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This is the first book in her Chicago stars series and once again I’ve worked my way backwards because I’ve read all her other books.

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.